St. Louis, the pride of America’s soccer city par excellence: at the top on the first try

“This is America’s first soccer city. We will defend it.”

This concludes the video in it St. Louis City, winner of the Western Conference in its first season in the American Leagueclaims the role of the first soccer city in the United States.

The voices are those of Miguel Perez, current St. Louis midfielder, and Ty Keogh, a local legend who played for the National Team Steamers during the 1980s. Neither American fans nor Major League Soccer fans around the world have known about the history of St. Louis soccer for the past century and a half, and now finally, week after week, it is reaching the ears of millions of people.

St. Louis has always maintained a modest and reserved appearance. The city has never shown the footballing credentials to be part of Major League Soccer, patiently waiting for the right moment to get what it seemed to deserve for several years: a seat at the table of Major League Soccer greats.

Once some cities in the United States began declaring themselves the country’s first soccer city, that is, the first in which the ball had actually caught the ball before anywhere else, St. Louis watched with dismay what was happening. Since she is not in Major League Soccer, her story has not been able to reach the general public, compared to her fellow Major League Soccer players who are confident in their ability to assert their fundamental role in football in the country. Without having to deal with Missouri City.

Once the 2023 NFL Draft opened with St. Louis as the No. 29 team between the two conferences, the team turned its enforced silence into a cry of liberation. “This is the first football city in the country: we will defend it.”